The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in waheguru—represented using the sacred symbol of ik ōaṅkār, the Universal God. Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. A key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non-anthropomorphic concept of God, to the extent that one can interpret God as the Universe itself. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture entitled the Gurū Granth Sāhib, which, along with the writings of six of the ten Sikh Gurus, includes selected works of many devotees from diverse socio-economic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth. Sikhism's traditions and teachings are distinctively associated with the history, society and culture of the Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 23 million across the world. Most Sikhs live in Punjab in India and, until India's partition, millions of Sikhs lived in what is now Pakistani Punjab.[5]

Philosophy and teachings

The Harimandir Sahib, known popularly as the Golden Temple, is a sacred shrine for Sikhs.

The origins of Sikhism lie in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summed up by Nanak in these words: "Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living".[6] Sikhism believes in equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikhism also does not attach any importance to asceticism as a means to attain salvation, but stresses on the need of leading life as a householder.

Sikhism is a monotheisticreligion.[7][8] In Sikhism, God—termed Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: niraṅkār, akāl, and alakh. The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure "1"—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite, and is signified by the term ēk ōaṅkār.[9] Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Its hukam (will or order).[10] When God willed, the entire cosmos was created. From these beginnings, God nurtured "enticement and attachment" to māyā, or the human perception of reality.[11]

While a full understanding of God is beyond human beings,[9]Nanak described God as not wholly unknowable. God is omnipresent (sarav viāpak) in all creation and visible everywhere to the spiritually awakened. Nanak stressed that God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart", of a human being: devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment. Guru Nanak Dev emphasized the revelation through meditation, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings.[9] God has no gender in Sikhism, (though translations may incorrectly present a male God); indeed Sikhism teaches that God is "Nirankar" [Niran meaning "without" and kar meaning "form", hence "without form"]. In addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which God has created life.[12]

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Pursuing salvation and khalsa

Nanak's teachings are founded not on a final destination of heaven or hell, but on a spiritual union with God which results in salvation.[13] The chief obstacles to the attainment of salvation are social conflicts and an attachment to worldly pursuits, which commit men and women to an endless cycle of birth—a concept known as reincarnation.

Māyā—defined as illusion or "unreality"—is one of the core deviations from the pursuit of God and salvation: people are distracted from devotion by worldly attractions which give only illusive satisfaction. However, Nanak emphasised māyā as not a reference to the unreality of the world, but of its values. In Sikhism, the influences of ego, anger, greed, attachment, and lust—known as the Five Evils—are believed to be particularly pernicious. The fate of people vulnerable to the Five Evils is separation from God, and the situation may be remedied only after intensive and relentless devotion.[14]

Nanak described God's revelation—the path to salvation—with terms such as nām (the divine Name) and śabad (the divine Word) to emphasise the totality of the revelation. Nanak designated the word guru (meaning teacher) as the voice of God and the source and guide for knowledge and salvation.[15] Salvation can be reached only through rigorous and disciplined devotion to God. Nanak distinctly emphasised the irrelevance of outward observations such as rites, pilgrimages, or asceticism. He stressed that devotion must take place through the heart, with the spirit and the soul.

A key practice to be pursued is nām: remembrance of the divine Name. The verbal repetition of the name of God or a sacred syllable is an established practice in religious traditions in India, but Nanak's interpretation emphasized inward, personal observance. Nanak's ideal is the total exposure of one's being to the divine Name and a total conforming to Dharma or the "Divine Order". Nanak described the result of the disciplined application of nām simraṇ as a "growing towards and into God" through a gradual process of five stages. The last of these is sac khaṇḍ (The Realm of Truth)—the final union of the spirit with God.[15]

Nanak stressed now kirat karō: that a Sikh should balance work, worship, and charity, and should defend the rights of all creatures, and in particular, fellow human beings. They are encouraged to have a chaṛdī kalā, or optimistic, view of life. Sikh teachings also stress the concept of sharing—vaṇḍ chakkō—through the distribution of free food at Sikh gurdwaras (laṅgar), giving charitable donations, and working for the good of the community and others (sēvā).

The ten gurus and religious authority

The term guru comes from the Sanskritgurū, meaning teacher, guide, or mentor. The traditions and philosophy of Sikhism were established by ten specific gurus from 1499 to 1708. Each guru added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, resulting in the creation of the Sikh religion. Nanak was the first guru and appointed a disciple as successor. Gobind Singh was the final guru in human form. Before his death, Gobind Singh decreed that the Gurū Granth Sāhib would be the final and perpetual guru of the Sikhs.[16] The Sikhs believe that the spirit of Nanak was passed from one guru to the next, " just as the light of one lamp, which lights another and does not diminish ",[17] and is also mentioned in their holy book.

After Nanak's passing, the most important phase in the development of Sikhism came with the third successor, Amar Das. Nanak's teachings emphasised the pursuit of salvation; Amar Das began building a cohesive community of followers with initiatives such as sanctioning distinctive ceremonies for birth, marriage, and death. Amar Das also established the manji (comparable to a diocese) system of clerical supervision.[15]

The interior of the Akal Takht

Amar Das's successor and son-in-law Ram Das founded the city of Amritsar, which is home of the Harimandir Sahib and regarded widely as the holiest city for all Sikhs. When Ram Das's youngest son Arjan succeeded him, the line of male gurus from the Sodhi Khatri family was established: all succeeding gurus were direct descendants of this line. Guru Arjan Sahib was captured by Mughal authorities who were suspicious and hostile to the religious order he was developing.[18] His persecution and death inspired his successors to promote a military and political organization of Sikh communities to defend themselves against the attacks of Mughal forces.

The Sikh gurus established a mechanism which allowed the Sikh religion to react as a community to changing circumstances. The sixth guru, Har Gobind, was responsible for the creation of the concept of Akal Takht (throne of the timeless one), which serves as the supreme decision-making centre of Sikhdom and sits opposite the Darbar Sahib. The Sarbat Ḵẖālsā (a representative portion of the Khalsa Panth) historically gathers at the Akal Takht on special festivals such as Vaisakhi or Diwali and when there is a need to discuss matters that affect the entire Sikh nation. A gurmatā (literally, guru's intention) is an order passed by the Sarbat Ḵẖālsā in the presence of the Gurū Granth Sāhib. A gurmatā may only be passed on a subject that affects the fundamental principles of Sikh religion; it is binding upon all Sikhs.[19] The term hukamnāmā (literally, edict or royal order) is often used interchangeably with the term gurmatā. However, a hukamnāmā formally refers to a hymn from the Gurū Granth Sāhib which is given as an order to Sikhs.

History

Nanak (1469–1538), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī, now called Nankana Sahib (in present-day Pakistan).[20] His father, Mehta Kalu was a Patwari, an accountant of land revenue in the employment of Rai Bular Bhatti, the area landlord. Nanak's mother was Tripta Devi and he had one older sister, Nanaki. His parents were KhatriHindus of the Bedi clan. As a boy, Nanak was fascinated by religion, and his desire to explore the mysteries of life eventually led him to leave home and take missionary journeys.

In his early teens, Nanak caught the attention of the local landlord Rai Bular Bhatti, who was moved by his intellect and divine qualities. Rai Bular was witness to many incidents in which Nanak enchanted him and as a result Rai Bular and Nanak's sister Bibi Nanki, became the first persons to recognise the divine qualities in Nanak. Both of them then encouraged and supported Nanak to study and travel. Sikh tradition states that at the age of thirty, Nanak went missing and was presumed to have drowned after going for one of his morning baths to a local stream called the Kali Bein. One day, he declared: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" (in Punjabi, "nā kōi hindū nā kōi musalmān"). It was from this moment that Nanak would begin to spread the teachings of what was then the beginning of Sikhism.[21] Although the exact account of his itinerary is disputed, he is widely acknowledged to have made four major journeys, spanning thousands of miles, the first tour being east towards Bengal and Assam, the second south towards Tamil Nadu, the third north towards Kashmir, Ladakh, and Tibet, and the final tour west towards Baghdad and Mecca.[22]

Nanak was married to Sulakhni, the daughter of Moolchand Chona, a rice trader from the town of Bakala. They had two sons. The elder son, Sri Chand, was an ascetic, and he came to have a considerable following of his own, known as the Udasis. The younger son, Lakshmi Das, on the other hand, was totally immersed in worldly life. To Nanak, who believed in the ideal of rāj maiṁ jōg (detachment in civic life), both his sons were unfit to carry on the Guruship.

Growth of the Sikh community

In 1538, Nanak chose his disciple Lahiṇā, a Khatri of the Trehan clan, as a successor to the guruship rather than either of his sons. Lahiṇā was named Angad Dev and became the second guru of the Sikhs.[23] Nanak conferred his choice at the town of Kartarpur on the banks of the river Ravi, where Nanak had finally settled down after his travels. Though Sri Chand was not an ambitious man, the Udasis believed that the Guruship should have gone to him, since he was a man of pious habits in addition to being Nanak's son. They refused to accept Angad's succession. On Nanak's advice, Angad shifted from Kartarpur to Khadur, where his wife Khivi and children were living, until he was able to bridge the divide between his followers and the Udasis. Angad continued the work started by Nanak and is widely credited for standardising the Gurmukhī script as used in the sacred scripture of the Sikhs.

Amar Das, a Khatri of the Bhalla clan, became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at the age of 73. Goindval became an important centre for Sikhism during the guruship of Amar Das. He preached the principle of equality for women by prohibiting purdah and sati. Amar Das also encouraged the practice of langar and made all those who visited him attend laṅgar before they could speak to him.[24] In 1567, Emperor Akbar sat with the ordinary and poor people of Punjab to have laṅgar. Amar Das also trained 146 apostles of which 52 were women, to manage the rapid expansion of the religion.[25] Before he died in 1574 aged 95, he appointed his son-in-law Jēṭhā, a Khatri of the Sodhi clan, as the fourth Sikh guru.

Jēṭhā became Ram Das and vigorously undertook his duties as the new guru. He is responsible for the establishment of the city of Ramdaspur later to be named Amritsar. Before Ramdaspur, Amritsar was known as Guru Da Chakk. In 1581, Arjan Dev—youngest son of the fourth guru—became the fifth guru of the Sikhs. In addition to being responsible for building the Darbar/Harimandir Sahib (called the Golden Temple), he prepared the Sikh sacred text known as the Ādi Granth (literally the first book) and included the writings of the first five gurus. In 1606, for refusing to make changes to the Granth and for supporting an unsuccessful contender to the throne, he was tortured and killed by the MughalEmperor, Jahangir.[26]

Political advancement

Hargobind, became the sixth guru of the Sikhs. He carried two swords—one for spiritual and the other for temporal reasons (known as mīrī and pīrī in Sikhism).[27] Sikhs grew as an organized community and under the 10th Guru the Sikhs developed a trained fighting force to defend their independence. In 1644, Har Rai became guru followed by Harkrishan, the boy guru, in 1661. No hymns composed by these three gurus are included in the Sikh holy book.[28]

Tegh Bahadur became guru in 1665 and led the Sikhs until 1675. Teg Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb for helping to protect Hindus, after a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits came to him for help when the Emperor condemned them to death for failing to convert to Islam.[29] He was succeeded by his son, Gobind Rai who was just nine years old at the time of his father's death. Gobind Rai further militarised his followers, and was baptised by the Pañj Piārē when he formed the Khalsa on 13 April 1699. From here on in he was known as Gobind Singh.

From the time of Nanak, when it was a loose collection of followers who focused entirely on the attainment of salvation and God, the Sikh community had significantly transformed. Even though the core Sikh religious philosophy was never affected, the followers now began to develop a political identity. Conflict with Mughal authorities escalated during the lifetime of Teg Bahadur and Gobind Singh. The latter founded the Khalsa in 1699. The Khalsa is a disciplined community that combines its religious purpose and goals with political and military duties.[30] After Aurangzeb killed four of his sons, Gobind Singh sent Aurangzeb the Zafarnamah (Notification/Epistle of Victory).

Shortly before his death, Gobind Singh ordered that the Gurū Granth Sāhib (the Sikh Holy Scripture), would be the ultimate spiritual authority for the Sikhs and temporal authority would be vested in the Khalsa Panth—the Sikh Nation/Community.[16] The first scripture was compiled and edited by the fifth guru, Arjan Dev, in 1604.

A former ascetic was charged by Gobind Singh with the duty of punishing those who had persecuted the Sikhs. After the guru's death, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur became the leader of the Sikh army and was responsible for several attacks on the Mughal empire. He was executed by the emperor Jahandar Shah after refusing the offer of a pardon if he converted to Islam.[31]

The Sikh community's embrace of military and political organisation made it a considerable regional force in medieval India and it continued to evolve after the demise of the gurus. After the death of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, a Sikh Confederacy of Sikh warrior bands known as misls formed. With the decline of the Mughal empire, a Sikh Empire arose in the Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with its capital in Lahore and limits reaching the Khyber Pass and the borders of China. The order, traditions and discipline developed over centuries culminated at the time of Ranjit Singh to give rise to the common religious and social identity that the term "Sikhism" describes.[32]

After the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Empire fell into disorder and was eventually annexed by the United Kingdom after the hard-fought Anglo-Sikh Wars. This brought the Punjab under the British Raj. Sikhs formed the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and the Shiromani Akali Dal to preserve Sikhs' religious and political organization a quarter of a century later. With the partition of India in 1947, thousands of Sikhs were killed in violence and millions were forced to leave their ancestral homes in West Punjab.[33] Sikhs faced initial opposition from the Government in forming a linguistic state that other states in India were afforded. The Akali Dal started a non-violence movement for Sikh and Punjabi rights. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale emerged as a leader of the Bhindran-Mehta Jatha—which assumed the name of Damdami Taksal in 1977 to promote a peaceful solution of the problem. In June 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian army to launch Operation Blue Star to remove Bhindranwale and his followers from the Darbar Sahib. Bhindranwale, and a large number of innocent pilgrims were killed during the army's operations. In October, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. The assassination was followed by the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots massacre[34] and Hindu-Sikh conflicts in Punjab, as a reaction to the assassination and Operation Blue Star.

Scripture

There are two primary sources of scripture for the Sikhs: the Gurū Granth Sāhib and the Dasam Granth. The Gurū Granth Sāhib may be referred to as the Ādi Granth—literally, The First Volume—and the two terms are often used synonymously. Here, however, the Ādi Granth refers to the version of the scripture created by Arjan Dev in 1604. The Gurū Granth Sāhib refers to the final version of the scripture created by Gobind Singh.

Adi Granth

The Ādi Granth was compiled primarily by Bhai Gurdas under the supervision of Arjan Dev between the years 1603 and 1604.[35] It is written in the Gurmukhī script, which is a descendant of the Laṇḍā script used in the Punjab at that time.[36] The Gurmukhī script was standardised by Angad Dev, the second guru of the Sikhs, for use in the Sikh scriptures and is thought to have been influenced by the Śāradā and Devanāgarī scripts. An authoritative scripture was created to protect the integrity of hymns and teachings of the Sikh gurus and selected bhagats. At the time, Arjan Sahib tried to prevent undue influence from the followers of Prithi Chand, the guru's older brother and rival.[37]

The original version of the Ādi Granth is known as the kartārpur bīṛ and is claimed to be held by the Sodhi family of Kartarpur.[citation needed] (In fact the original volume was burned by Ahmad Shah Durrani's army in 1757 when they burned the whole town of Kartarpur.)[citation needed]

Guru Granth Sahib

The final version of the Gurū Granth Sāhib was compiled by Gobind Singh in 1678. It consists of the original Ādi Granth with the addition of Teg Bahadur's hymns. It was decreed by Gobind Singh that the Granth was to be considered the eternal guru of all Sikhs; however, this tradition is not mentioned either in 'Guru Granth Sahib' or in 'Dasam Granth'.

It contains compositions by the first five gurus, Teg Bahadur and just one śalōk (couplet) from Gobind Singh.[38] It also contains the traditions and teachings of sants (saints) such as Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, and Sheikh Farid along with several others.[32]

The bulk of the scripture is classified into rāgs, with each rāg subdivided according to length and author. There are 31 main rāgs within the Gurū Granth Sāhib. In addition to the rāgs, there are clear references to the folk music of Punjab. The main language used in the scripture is known as Sant Bhāṣā, a language related to both Punjabi and Hindi and used extensively across medieval northern India by proponents of popular devotional religion.[30] The text further comprises over 5000 śabads, or hymns, which are poetically constructed and set to classical form of music rendition, can be set to predetermined musical tāl, or rhythmic beats.

A group of Sikh musicians at the Golden Temple complex

The Granth begins with the Mūl Mantra, an iconic verse created by Nanak:

English: One Universal Creator God, The Name Is Truth, Creative Being Personified, No Fear, No Hatred, Image Of The Timeless One, Beyond Birth, Self Existent, By Guru's Grace.

All text within the Granth is known as gurbānī. Gurbānī, according to Nanak, was revealed by God directly, and the authors wrote it down for the followers. The status accorded to the scripture is defined by the evolving interpretation of the concept of gurū. In the Sant tradition of Nanak, the guru was literally the word of God. The Sikh community soon transferred the role to a line of men who gave authoritative and practical expression to religious teachings and traditions, in addition to taking socio-political leadership of Sikh adherents. Gobind Singh declared an end of the line of human gurus, and now the Gurū Granth Sāhib serves as the eternal guru, with its interpretation vested with the community.[30]

Dasam Granth

The Dasam Granth (formally dasvēṁ pātśāh kī granth or The Book of the Tenth Master) is an eighteenth-century collection of poems by Gobind Singh. It was compiled in the shape of a book (granth) by Bhai Mani Singh some 13 to 26 years after Guru Gobind Singh Ji left this world for his heavenly abode.

From 1895 to 1897, different scholars and theologians assembled at the Akal Takht, Amritsar, to study the 32 printed Dasam Granths and prepare the authoritative version. They met at the Akal Takhat at Amritsar, and held formal discussions in a series of meetings between 13 June 1895 and 16 February 1896. A preliminary report entitled Report Sodhak (revision) Committee Dasam Patshah de Granth Sahib Di was sent to Sikh scholars and institutions, inviting their opinion. A second document, Report Dasam Granth di Sudhai Di was brought out on 11 February 1898. Basing its conclusions on a study of the old handwritten copies of the Dasam Granth preserved at Sri Takht Sahib at Patna and in other Sikh gurudwaras, this report affirmed that the Holy Volume was compiled at Anandpur Sahib in 1698[3] . Further re-examinations and reviews took place in 1931, under the aegis of the Darbar Sahib Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee. They, too, vindicated the earlier conclusion (agreeing that it was indeed the work of the Guru) and its findings have since been published.

Janamsakhis

The Janamsākhīs (literally birth stories), are writings which profess to be biographies of Nanak. Although not scripture in the strictest sense, they provide an interesting look at Nanak's life and the early start of Sikhism. There are several—often contradictory and sometimes unreliable—Janamsākhīs and they are not held in the same regard as other sources of scriptural knowledge.

Observances

Observant Sikhs adhere to long-standing practices and traditions to strengthen and express their faith. The daily recitation from memory of specific passages from the Gurū Granth Sāhib, especially the Japu (or Japjī, literally chant) hymns is recommended immediately after rising and bathing. Family customs include both reading passages from the scripture and attending the gurdwara (also gurduārā, meaning the doorway to God; sometimes transliterated as gurudwara). There are many gurdwaras prominently constructed and maintained across India, as well as in almost every nation where Sikhs reside. Gurdwaras are open to all, regardless of religion, background, caste, or race.

Worship in a gurdwara consists chiefly of singing of passages from the scripture. Sikhs will commonly enter the temple, touch the ground before the holy scripture with their foreheads, and make an offering. The recitation of the eighteenth century ardās is also customary for attending Sikhs. The ardās recalls past sufferings and glories of the community, invoking divine grace for all humanity.[39]

The most sacred shrine is the Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar, famously known as the Golden Temple. Groups of Sikhs regularly visit and congregate at the Harimandir Sahib. On specific occasions, groups of Sikhs are permitted to undertake a pilgrimage to Sikh shrines in the province of Punjab in Pakistan, especially at Nankana Sahib and other Gurdwaras. Other places of interest to Sikhism in Pakistan includes the samādhī (place of cremation) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore.

Sikh festivals

Festivals in Sikhism mostly centre around the lives of the Gurus and Sikh martyrs. The SGPC, the Sikh organisation in charge of upkeep of the gurdwaras, organises celebrations based on the new Nanakshahi calendar. This calendar is highly controversial among Sikhs and is not universally accepted. Several festivals (Hola Mohalla, Diwali, and Nanak's birthday) continue to be celebrated using the Hindu calendar. Sikh festivals include the following:

Gurpurabs are celebrations or commemorations based on the lives of the Sikh gurus. They tend to be either birthdays or celebrations of Sikh martyrdom. All ten Gurus have Gurpurabs on the Nanakshahi calendar, but it is Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh who have a gurpurab that is widely celebrated in Gurdwaras and Sikh homes. The martyrdoms are also known as a shaheedi Gurpurab, which mark the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Vaisakhi or Baisakhi normally occurs on 13 April and marks the beginning of the new spring year and the end of the harvest. Sikhs celebrate it because on Vaisakhi in 1699, the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, laid down the Foundation of the Khalsa an Independent Sikh Identity.

Hola Mohalla occurs the day after Holi and is when the Khalsa Panth gather at Anandpur and display their warrior skills, including fighting and riding.

Ceremonies and customs

The anand kāraj (Sikh marriage) ceremony

Nanak taught that rituals, religious ceremonies, or idol worship is of little use and Sikhs are discouraged from fasting or going on pilgrimages.[40] However, during the period of the later gurus, and owing to increased institutionalisation of the religion, some ceremonies and rites did arise. Sikhism is not a proselytizing religion and most Sikhs do not make active attempts to gain converts. However, converts to Sikhism are welcomed, although there is no formal conversion ceremony. The morning and evening prayers take about two hours a day, starting in the very early morning hours. The first morning prayer is Guru Nanak's Jap Ji. Jap, meaning "recitation", refers to the use of sound, as the best way of approaching the divine. Like combing hair, hearing and reciting the sacred word is used as a way to comb all negative thoughts out of the mind. The second morning prayer is Guru Gobind Singh's universal Jaap Sahib. The Guru addresses God as having no form, no country, and no religion but as the seed of seeds, sun of suns, and the song of songs. The Jaap Sahib asserts that God is the cause of conflict as well as peace, and of destruction as well as creation. Devotees learn that there is nothing outside of God's presence, nothing outside of God's control. Devout Sikhs are encouraged to begin the day with private meditations on the name of God.

Upon a child's birth, the Guru Granth Sāhib is opened at a random point and the child is named using the first letter on the top left-hand corner of the left page. All boys are given the middle name or surname Singh, and all girls are given the middle name or surname Kaur.[41] Sikhs are joined in wedlock through the anand kāraj ceremony. Sikhs are required to marry when they are of a sufficient age (child marriage is taboo), and without regard for the future spouse's caste or descent. The marriage ceremony is performed in the company of the Guru Granth Sāhib; around which the couple circles four times. After the ceremony is complete, the husband and wife are considered "a single soul in two bodies."[42]

According to Sikh religious rites, neither husband nor wife is permitted to divorce. A Sikh couple that wishes to divorce may be able to do so in a civil court—but this is not condoned.[43] Upon death, the body of a Sikh is usually cremated. If this is not possible, any means of disposing the body may be employed. The kīrtan sōhilā and ardās prayers are performed during the funeral ceremony (known as antim sanskār).[44]

Baptism and the Khalsa

A kaṛā, kaṅghā and kirpān.

Khalsa (meaning "pure") is the name given by Gobind Singh to all Sikhs who have been baptised or initiated by taking ammrit in a ceremony called ammrit sañcār. The first time that this ceremony took place was on Vaisakhi, which fell on 29 March 1698/1699 at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. It was on that occasion that Gobind Singh baptised the Pañj Piārē who in turn baptised Gobind Singh himself.

Baptised Sikhs are bound to wear the Five Ks (in Punjabi known as pañj kakkē or pañj kakār), or articles of faith, at all times. The tenth guru, Gobind Singh, ordered these Five Ks to be worn so that a Sikh could actively use them to make a difference to their own and to others' spirituality. The 5 items are: kēs (uncut hair), kaṅghā (small comb), kaṛā (circular iron bracelet), kirpān (dagger), and kacchā (special undergarment). The Five Ks have both practical and symbolic purposes.[45]

Sikh people

Worldwide, there are 25.8 million Sikhs and approximately 75% of Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab, where they constitute about 60% of the state's population. Even though there are a large number of Sikhs in the world, certain countries have not recognised Sikhism as a major religion as Sikhism is closely related to Hinduism. Large communities of Sikhs live in the neighboring states, and large communities of Sikhs can be found across India. However, Sikhs only make up about 2% of the Indian population.

In addition to social divisions, there is a misperception that there are a number of Sikh sectarian groups, such as Namdharis and Nirankaris. Nihangs tend to have little difference in practice and are considered the army of Sikhism. There is also a sect known as Udasi, founded by Sri Chand who were initially part of Sikhism but later developed into a monastic order.

From LoveToKnow 1911

SIKHISM, a religion of India, whose followers (Sikhs) are principally
found in the Punjab, United
Provinces, Sind, Jammu and Kashmir. Sikhism was founded by Nanak, a Khatri
by caste, who was born at
Talwandi near Lahore in A.D.
1469, and after travelling and preaching throughout a great part of southern
Asia died at Kartarpur in Jullundur in 1539. He was
succeeded by nine gurus, great teachers or head priests, whose
dates are as follows: A .D.

I. Nanak..1469-15392. Angad..1539-15523. Amar Das.1552-15744. Ram Das.1574-15815. Arjan.
..1581-1606Nanak, like Buddha,
revolted against a religion overladen with ceremonial and social
restrictions, and both rebelled against the tyranny of the
priesthood. The tendency of each religion was to quietism, but their separate
doctrines were largely influenced by the surroundings of their
founders. Buddha lived in the centre of Hindu India and among the
many gods of the Brahmans. These he rejected, he knew of nought
else, and in his theological system there was found no place for
divinity. Nanak was born in the province which then formed the
borderland between Hinduism and Islam. He taught that there was one God; but that
God was neither Allah nor Ram,
but simply God; neither the special god of the Mahommedan, nor of
the Hindu, but the God of the universe, of all mankind and of all
religions. Starting from the unity of God, Nanak and his successors
rejected the idols and incarnations of the Hindus, and on the
ground of the equality of all men rejected also the system of
caste. The doctrines of Sikhism as set forth in the Granth are that it prohibits
idolatry, hypocrisy, class
exclusiveness, the concremation of widows, the immurement of women,
the use of wine and other
intoxicants, tobacco-smoking, infanticide, slander and pilgrimages to the sacred rivers
and tanks of the Hindus; and it inculcates loyalty, gratitude for all favours received,
philanthropy, justice, impartiality, truth, honesty and all the
moral and domestic virtues upheld by Christianity. Sikhism mainly differs from
Christianity in that it inculcates the transmigration of the soul,
and adopts a belief in predestination, which is universal in
the East.

The Sikh religion did not reach
this full development at once, nor was the first of the gurus even
the first to feel dissatisfaction with the existing order of
things. Ideas of revolt and reform of decadent systems are always
in the air, it may be for centuries,
until some one man bolder than the rest stands out to give them
free expression; and as John the Baptist preceded Jesus Christ, so
Nanak was preceded by several reformers, whose writings are
incorporated in the Granth itself. The chief of these
reformers are Jaidev, Ramanand and Kabir. Jaidev is better known as
the author of the Gitagobind, which was translated by Sir Edwin
Arnold, than as a religious reformer; but in the Adi
Granth are found two hymns
of his in the Prakrit
language of the time, in which he represents God as distinct from
nature, yet everywhere present. He taught at the end of the 12th
century A.D. that the practice of yog, sacrifices and
austerities was as nothing in comparison with the repetition of
God's name, and he inculcated the worship of God alone, in thought,
word and deed. What was worthy of
worship, he said, he had worshipped; what was worthy of trust he had trusted; and he had
become blended with God, as water blends with water.

Jaidev was succeeded by numerous Hindu saints, who perceived
that the superstitions of the age only led to spiritual blindness. Of these saints
Ramanand was one of the most distinguished. He lived at the end of
the 14th and beginning of A.D.

6. Har Govind.1606-16457. Har Rai.1645-16618. Har
Krishan1661-16649. Teg Bahadur1664-167510. Govind Singh1675-1708the
15th centuries, and during a visit to Benares he renounced some of the social and
caste observances of the Hindus, called his disciples the
liberated, and freed them from all restrictions in eating and
social intercourse. Kabir denounced idolatry and the ritualistic
practices of the Hindus. He was born A.D. 1398, and according to
the legend was the son of a virgin widow, as the result of a prayer offered for her by
Ramanand in ignorance of
her status. Thus it will be seen that the doctrines of these early
reformers contained the germs of the later Sikh religion.

Nanak seems to have been produced by the same cyclic wave of reformation as fourteen years
later gave Martin
Luther to Europe. He
taught, "There is but one God, the Creator, whose name is true,
devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn and self-existent,
great and bountiful." He held that the wearing of religious garb,
praying and practising penance to be seen of men, only produced
hypocrisy, and that those who went on pilgrimages to sacred
streams, though they might cleanse their bodies, only increased
their mental impurity. He pointed out that God "before all temples
prefers the upright heart and
pure," and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and not with
the idolatrous accessories of incense, sandal-wood and burnt-offerings. He abrogated
caste distinctions, and taught in opposition to ancient writings
that every man had the eternal right of searching for divine
knowledge and worshipping his Creator. This doctrine of philosophic
quietism was common to his successors, until in the time of the
sixth guru, Har Govind, it was found necessary to support the
separate existence of Sikhism by force of arms, and this led to the
militant and political development of the tenth and most powerful
of the gurus, Govind Singh. The Sikhs of to-day, though they all
derive primarily from Nanak, are only recognized as Singhs or real
Sikhs when they accept the doctrines and practices of Guru Govind
Singh.

Nanak's successor, Angad, was born in A.D 1504 and died in 1552.
He also was a Khatri, and was chosen by Guru Nanak in preference to
his own sons. The legend of his choice is that Nanak with his
followers was going on a journey, when they saw the dead body of a
man lying by the wayside. Nanak said, "Ye who trust in me eat of
this food." All hesitated save Angad (or own body), who knelt and
uncovered the dead, but, behold, the corpse had disappeared, and a dish of sacred
food was found in its place. The guru embraced his faithful
follower, saying that he was as himself, and that his spirit should
dwell within him. Thenceforward the Sikhs believe the spirit of
Nanak to have been incarnate in each succeeding guru. Little is
known of the ministry of Angad except that he committed to writing
much of what he had heard about Guru Nanak as well as some
devotional observations of his own, which were afterwards
incorporated in the Granth. Angad, like his predecessor,
postponed the claims of his own sons to the guruship to those of
Amar Das, who had been his faithful servant. Amar Das preached the
doctrine abrogation of
caste distinctions, and his precepts were implicitly followed by
his successors. He used to place all his Sikhs and visitors in rows
and cause them to eat together, not separately, as is the practice
of the Hindus. He said: "Let no one be proud of his caste, for this
pride of caste resulteth in many sins. He is a Brahman who knoweth Brahma (God). Every one
prateth of four castes. All are sprung from the seed of Brahm. The whole world is formed out of
one clay, but the Potter hath fashioned it in
various forms." It was a maxim of the Sikhs of his time: "If any
one treat you ill, bear it. If you
bear it three times God himself will fight for you and humble your
enemies." Guru Amar Das also discountenanced the practice of suttee, saying: "They are not
satis who burn themselves with the dead. The true
sati is she who dieth from the shock of separation from her husband. They also
ought to be considered satis who abide in charity
and contentment, who serve and, when rising, ever remember
their lord." Amar Das was born in A.D. 1509 and died in 1574 after
a ministry of twentytwo and a half years.

The fourth guru, originally called Jetha, was attracted to the
third guru by his reputation for sanctity. He became the servant of
Amar Das, helped in the public kitchen, shampooed his master, drew water,
brought firewood from the forest, and helped in the excavation of a
well which Amar Das was constructing at Goindwal. Jetha was of such
a mild temper that, even if
any one spoke harshly to him, he would endure it and never
retaliate. He became known as Ram Das, which means God's slave; and
on account of his piety and devotion Amar Das gave him his daughter
in marriage and made him his successor. Ram Das is amongst the most
revered of gurus, but no particular innovation is ascribed to him.
He founded, however, the golden temple of Amritsar in A.D. 1577, which has remained ever
since the centre of the Sikh religious worship. From this time
onward the office of guru became hereditary, but the practice of primogeniture was
not followed, each guru selecting the relative who seemed most
fitted to succeed him. Ram Das himself, finding his eldest son
Prithi Chand worldly and disobedient, and his second unfitted by
his too retiring disposition for the duties of guru, appointed his
third son, Arjan, to succeed him. When Prithi Chand represented
that he ought to have received the turban bound on Guru Arjan's head in token of
succession to his father, Arjan meekly handed it to him, without,
however, bestowing on him the guruship. The Sikhs themselves soon
revolted against the exactions of Prithi Chand, and prayed Arjan to
assert himself else the seed of the True Name would perish. It was
Guru Arjan who compiled the Granth or Sikh Bible, out of his own and his
predecessors' compositions. On this account he was accused of
deposing the deities of his country and substituting for them a new
divinity, but he was acquitted by the tolerant Akbar. When Akbar, however, was succeeded by Jahangir the guru aided the
latter's son Khusru to escape with a gift of money. On this account
his property was confiscated to the state, and he was thrown into
rigorous imprisonment and tortured to death. Arjan saw clearly that
it was impossible to preserve his sect without force of arms, and one of his last
injunctions to his son Har Govind was to sit fully armed on his
throne and maintain an army to the best of his ability. This was
the turning-point in the history of the Sikhs. Hitherto they had
been merely an insignificant religious sect; now, stimulated by
persecution, they became a militant and political power, inimical
to the Mahommedan rulers of the country.

When Har Govind was installed as guru, Bhai Budha, the aged Sikh
who performed the ceremony, presented him with a turban and a
necklace, and charged him to wear and preserve them as the founder
of his religion had done. Guru Gu g
Go Har Govind promptly ordered that the articles
should be relegated to his treasury, the museum of the period. He
said; "My necklace shall be my sword-belt, and
my turban shall be adorned with a royal aigrette." He then sent for his bow, quiver,
arrows, shield and sword, and
arrayed himself in martial style, so that, as the Sikh chronicler states,
his splendour shone like the sun.

The first four gurus led simple ascetic lives and were
regardless of wordly affairs. Guru Arjan, who was in charge of the
great Sikh temple at Amritsar, received copious offerings and
became a man of wealth and influence, while the sixth guru became a
military leader, and was frequently at warfare with the Mogul authorities. Several warriors
and wrestlers, hearing of
Guru Har Govind's fame, came to him for service. He enrolled as his
bodyguard fifty-two heroes who burned for the fray. This formed the
nucleus of his future army.
Five hundred youths then came to him for enlistment from the
Manjha, Doab and Malwa districts. These men told him that they had
no offering to make to him except their lives; for pay they only
required instruction in his religion; and they professed themselves
ready to die in his service. The guru gave them each a horse and five weapons of war, and
gladly enlisted them in his army. In a short time, besides men who
required regular pay, hordes gathered round the guru who were
satisfied with two meals a day and a suit of clothes every six
months. The fighting spirit of the people of for iveness and
endurance, upheld Guru Nanak's g p was roused and satisfied by the
spiritual and military leader. Har Govind was a hunter and eater of
flesh, and encouraged his followers to eat meat as giving them strength and daring. It is
largely to this practice that the Sikhs owe the superiority of
their physique over their surrounding Hindu neighbours. The regal state that the guru adopted
and the army that he maintained were duly reported to the emperor Jahangir.

In the Autobiography of Jahangir it is stated that the
guru was imprisoned in the fortress of Gwalior, with a view to the realization of the
fine imposed on his father Guru Arjan, but the Sikhs believe that
the guru became a voluntary inmate of the fortress with the object
of obtaining seclusion there to pray for the emperor who had been
advised to that effect by his Hindu astrologers. After a time
Jahangir died and was succeeded by Shah Jahan, with whom the guru was
constantly at war. On three separate occasions of ter desperate
fighting he defeated the royal troops sent against him. Many
legends are told of his military prowess, for which there is no
space in this summary. The guru before his death at Kiratpur, on
the margin of the Sutlej,
instructed his grandson and successor, Guru Har Rai, to retain two
thousand two hundred mounted soldiers ever with him as a
precautionary measure.

Har Rai was charged with friendship for Dara Shikoh, the son of
Shah Jahan, and also with preaching a religion di s tinct
from Islam. He was, therefore, summoned to > Delhi, but instead of going himself he sent his
son Ram Rai and shortly afterwards died. His ministry was mild but
won him general respect.

The eighth guru was the second son of Har Rai, but he died when
a child and too young to leave any mark on in his favour and also in
favour of the next guru for having altered a line of the
Granth to please the emperor Aurangzeb.

As the direct line of succession died out with Har Krishan, the
guruship harked back at this point to Teg Bahadur, the second son
of Har Govind and uncle of Har Rai. Teg Bahadur religious nature,
and had become a military society Go Singh. for
self-protection, developed into a national movement which was to
rule the whole of north-western India and to furnish to the British
arms their stoutest and most worthy opponents. For some years after
his father's execution Govind Singh, then known as Gobind Rai,
lived in retirement, brooding over the wrongs of his people and the
persecutions of the fanatical Aurangzeb. He felt the necessity for
a larger following and a stronger organization, and following the
example of his Mahommedan enemies used his religion as the basis of
political power. Emerging from his retirement he preached the
Khalsa, the "pure," and it is by this name his followers are now
known. He, like his predecessors, openly attacked all distinctions
of caste, and taught the equality of all men who would join him,
and he instituted a ceremony of initiation with baptismal holy water by which all
might enter the Sikh fraternity.

The higher castes murmured, and many of them left him, for he
taught that the Brahmanical threads must be broken; but the lower
orders rejoiced and flocked in numbers to his standard. These he
inspired with military ardour in the hope of social freedom and of
national independence. He gave them outward signs of their faith in
the five K's - which will subsequently be explained - he signified
the military nature of their calling by the title of "singh" or "lion" and by the wearing of steel, and he
strictly prohibited the use of tobacco. The following are the main
points of his teaching: Sikhs must have one form of initiation,
sprinkling of water by five of the faithful; they should worship
the one invisible God and honour the memory of Guru Nanak and his
successors; their watchword should be, "Sri wah guru ji ka
khalsa, sri wah guru ji ki fatah" (Khalsa of God, victory to
God!), but they should revere
and bow to nought visible save the Granth Sahib, the book of their belief; they should
occasionally bathe in the sacred tank of Amritsar; their locks
should remain unshorn; and they should name themselves singhs or
lions. Arms should dignify their person; they should ever practise
their use; and great would be the merit of those who fought in the
van, who slew the enemies of their faith, and who despaired not
although overpowered by superior numbers.

The religious creed of Guru Govind Singh was the same as that of
Guru Nanak: the God, the guru and the Granth remained
unchanged. But while Nanak had substituted holiness of life for
vain ceremonial, Guru Govind Singh demanded in addition brave deeds
and zealous devotion to the Sikh cause as proof of faith; and while
he retained his predecessors' attitude towards the Hindu gods and
worship he preached undying hatred to the persecutors of his
religion.

During the spiritual reign of Guru Govind Singh the religious
was partially eclipsed by the military spirit. The Mahommedans
promptly responded to the challenge, for the danger was too serious to
be neglected; the Sikh army was dispersed and two of Guru Govind
Singh's sons were murdered at Sirhind by the governor of that fortress, and
his mother died of grief at the cruel death of her grandchildren.
The death of the emperor Aurangzeb brought a temporary lull: the guru assisted
Aurangzeb's successor, Bahadur Shah, and was himself not long
after assassinated at Nander in the Deccan. As all the guru's sons predeceased him,
and as he was disappointed in his envoyBanda,
he left no human successor, but vested the guruship in the
Granth Sahib and his sect. No formal alteration has been
made in the Sikh religion since Guru Govind Singh gave it his
military organization, but certain modifications have taken place
as the result of time and contact with Hinduism. After the guru's
death the gradual rise of the Sikhs into the ruling power of
northern India until they came in collision with the British arms
belongs to the secular history of the Punjab (q.v.).

The chief ceremony initiated by Guru Govind Singh was the Khanda
ka Pahul or baptism by the
sword. This baptism may not be conferred until the candidate has
reached an age of discrimination and capacity to remember
obligations, p y cere seven years
being fixed as the earliest age, but it is generally deferred until
manhood. Five of the initiated must be present, all of whom should
be learned in the faith. An Indian sweetmeat is stirred up in water
with a two-edged sword and the novice repeats after the officiant the articles
of his faith. Some of the water is sprinkled on him five times, and
he drinks of it five times from the palms of his hands; he then
pronounces the Sikh watchword given above and promises adherence to
the new obligations he has contracted. He must from that date wear
the five K's and add the word singh to his original name. The five
K's are (I) the kes or uncut hair of the whole body, (2)
the kachh or short drawers ending above the knee, (3) the kara or iron bangle, (4) the
khanda or small steel dagger,(5) the khanga or comb. The five K's and the other esoteric observances of the
Sikhs mostly had a utilitarian purpose. When fighting was a part of
the Sikh's duty, long hair and iron rings concealed in it protected
his head from sword cuts. The kachh or drawers fastened by
a waist-band was more convenient
and suitable for warriors than the insecurely tied dhoti
of the Hindus or the tamba of the Mahommedans. So also the
Sikh's physical strength was increased by the use of meat and avoidance of tobacco.
Another Sikh ceremony is the kara parshad or communion
made of butter, flour and sugar, and consecrated with certain ceremonies.
The communicants sit round, and the kara history. His
elder brother Ram Rai was passed over p was put to death for
refusal to embrace Islam b. p by Aurangzeb in A.D. 1675. It is of
him that the legend is told that during his imprisonment in Delhi
he was accused by the emperor of looking towards the west in the
direction of the imperial zenana. The guru replied, "Emperor Aurangzeb, I
was on the top storey of my prison, but I was not looking at
thy private apartments or at thy queen's. I was looking in the
direction of the Europeans who are coming from beyond the seas to
tear down thy purdahs and destroy
thine empire." This prophecy became the battle-cry of the Sikhs in
the assault on Delhi in
18J7.

Teg Bahadur was succeeded by the tenth and most powerful guru,
his son Govind Singh; and it was under him that what had sprung
into existence as a quietist sect of a purely parshad is
then distributed equally to all the faithful present, no matter to
what caste they belong. The object of this ceremony is to abolish
caste distinctions.

There may be said to be three degrees of strictness in the
observances of the Sikhs. There may first be mentioned the zealots
such as the Akalis, who, though generally quite illiterate, aim at
observing the injunctions of Sikhism Guru Govind Singh;
secondly, the true Sikhs or Singhs who observe his ordinances, such
as the prohibi tions of cutting the hair and the use of tobacco;
and, thirdly, those Sikhs who while professing devotion to the
tenets of the gurus are almost indistinguishable from ordinary
Hindus. These are largely Nanakpanti Sikhs, or followers only of
Guru Nanak. The Nanakpanti Sikhs do not wear the hair long, nor use
any of the outward signs of the Sikhs, though they reverence the
Granth Sahib and above all the memory of their guru. They
are distinguished from the Hindus by no outward sign except a
slight laxity in the matter of caste observances.

Sikhism attained its zenith
under the military genius of Ranjit Singh. After the British
conquest of the Punjab the military spirit of the Sikhs remained
for some time in abeyance.
Then came the mutiny, and
Sikhs once more were recruited in numbers and saved India for the
British crown. Peace returned, and
during the next twenty or twenty-five years Sikhism reached its
lowest ebb; but since then the demand for Sikhs in the regiments of
the Indian army and farther afield has largely revived the faith.
The establishment of Singh Sabhas, of Sikh newspapers, and the spread of education have
largely tended in the same direction, but the strict ethical code
of Sikhism and the number of its obligatory divine services have
caused many to fall away from the faith: nor does the austere Sikh
ritual appeal to women, who
generally prefer Hinduism with its picturesque material worship and
the brightness of its innumerable festivals. At the present day the
stronghold of Sikhism still remains the great Phulkian states of-,
Patiala, Nabha and Jind
and the surrounding districts of Ludhiana, Lahore, Amritsar, Jullundur and Gujranwala. In these
states and districts are recruited the soldiers who form one of the
main bulwarks of the British empire in India.

For authorities see Cunningham, History of the Sikhs;
Sir Lepel Griffin,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (" Rulers of India" series, 1892);
Falcon, Handbook on
Sikhs; and specially M. Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion: Its
Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors (6 vols., 1909), and two
lectures before the United Service Institution of India on "The
Sikh Religion and its Advantages to the State" and "How the Sikhs
became a Militant Race." (M. M.)

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Sikhism is a religion from the Indian sub-continent. It
originated in the Punjab region during the 15th century from a
sectarian split within the Hindu tradition . Sikhs consider their
faith to be a seperate religion from Hinduism though they
acknowledge its Hindu roots and traditions. Sikhs call their
religion Gurmat, which is Punjabi for "way of the guru".
The guru is a fundamental aspect of all Indian religions but in
Sikhism has taken on an importance that forms the core of Sikh
beliefs. The religion was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak
(1469–1539). There followed in succession a further nine gurus.
Sikhs acknowledge the last guru to be Guru Gobind Singh
(1666–1708). The Sikh's holy book is Guru Granth Sahib
(The Granth as the Guru) and this is considered the summation of
the ten gurus and their beliefs. The title reflects the Sikh belief
that their holy book is now the sole "guru" for guidance and
instruction.

[[File:|thumb|180px|The Khanda is one of most important symbols of Sikhism it is made up three different weapons, which also have a symbolic meaning.]]

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion, or a religion that believes in one god. The followers are called "Sikhs", and their holybook is the Guru Granth Sahib. 20 million people are followers of Sikhism, that makes it the fifth largest religion in the world. It is most popular in Asia.

Sikhism was started in 1469 by Guru Nanak Dev, the first of the "Ten Gurus". It took on a distinct identity in 1699, celebrated by Vaisakhi. This is when Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, started the baptism with Khande di Pahul, and the Sikhs were required to keep the 5 Ks. This is also called the birth of the Khalsa.

Contents

Beliefs

Some basic beliefs

The goal of life is to focus on being at one with God. This is attainable by meditating, and being in the company of others who share a similar goal.

God

Sikhism teaches that God lasts forever, can not be seen, and has no body. It is taught that he created the universe, can destroy it, and keeps it running. He is considered to be infinite, or he always existed and always will. Sikh's worship him, and meditate on his name. They believe everything is a part of God.

Salvation

Followers are all trying to reach salvation, meaning they are trying to break the process of rebirth and become one with God. The thing that is keeping people from reaching union is bad karma. Bad karma is taught to be caused by pride, anger, greed, attachment and lust. Sikhs try to stay away from these things.

The ten gurus and religious authority

The term guru comes from the Sanskritgurū, which means teacher, guide, or mentor. The traditions and philosophy of Sikhism were established by ten specific gurus from 1469 to 1708. Each guru added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, and this resulted in the creation of the Sikh religion.